A prominent Manhattan neurosurgeon whose patients include former Govs. George Pataki and David Paterson and actress Suzanne Somers was arrested Thursday for allegedly trying to steal confidential custody-case documents from a courtroom.

They were hauled to the Fifth Precinct station house and charged with tampering with public records and criminal contempt for disobeying a judge’s orders not to remove the paperwork, related to a nasty custody battle with his wife.

“This is desperate act by a desperate man,” said Bettina Hindin, the attorney representing Braverman’s third wife, Darya.

“It’s shocking that this man is a parent,” Hindin huffed.

After a heated proceeding on Jan. 24, Judge Kaplan allowed Braverman to view sensitive reports from a forensic psychologist about the couple’s three young boys.

But “the judge was adamant and very explicit,” court spokesman David Bookstaver said. “One of the clear conditions was that nothing was to be removed from the courtroom.”

A court source told The Post that Braverman, 57, waited until the judge and his adversaries left the courtroom, then allegedly tried to distract a clerk and slip the documents to Moyhi, 28. But they were caught in the act, sources said. Court officers waited until the duo returned for another hearing Thursday to cuff them.

The charges carry a maximum jail sentence of seven years.

Darya Braverman claims her boys are not safe with their doctor dad because he has tried to improperly medicate them using his prescription authority.